Sharing My Secret...

So often people see me with my children and quip,

"Wow! They are all yours? You must have non-stop energy!"

I must admit that several years ago, I could never be doing what I'm doing now.

I was tired.

A lot.

Daily napping was not a luxury, it was a NECESSITY.

And coffee in the morning? Yes! And it wasn't just for the enjoyment...it was to start my body for the day...and keep me going later. I could drink a pot. For reals.

Enter Shakeology.

I was already a Team Beachbody coach before Darin Olien and Isabelle Daikeler invented the formula, so I was curious what Beachbody had created.

I placed my first order.

I was VERY IMPRESSED.

I began drinking it daily.

Things began to change.

I had energy that was...steady. I didn't have that dip in the afternoon.

No more desperate need to melt into the couch come 1 pm!!

And once I did a 3 day cleanse using Shakeology...it broke my addiction to caffeine and I have not been a regular coffee drinker ever since. It's been 3 years!

This summer, I contracted a parasite that trashed my intestines. It took FOREVER to get over. (I think it's done! FINALLY!) During this time, I went multiple times to my doctor who finally said, "Amy, I have no idea what's wrong with you."

I visited a naturalist. He is an Registered Nurse and knew a lot about a lot of things. As I visited with him, I told him I had a bag of my Shakeology in the car, would he like to see it?

He said no.

I brought it in anyway. ;)

When he looked at it, he had a critical look on his face. Then, he melted.

"Hmmm."

Silence.

Then, "Wow. I've never seen a product packed full of so many good super foods. You should drink this everyday!"

He later came back to the subject of Shakeology and told me, "100% of the time when people bring their shakes in to me I tell them they are not worth anything. They isolate one or two good foods and then the rest of the shake is full of man made or synthetic fillers that render them useless. But this is the FIRST SHAKE I've ever seen to truly be full of healthy good foods that I would want to drink myself!"

It was pretty amazing, considering he had no connections with me or Beachbody and had never seen the product before.

Tony Horton of P90X fame and a trainer with Beachbody recently made this video about why he likes Shakeology. Tony is a fitness king and a vegan. He is uber careful with all the foods he puts in his body.

Enjoy watching this and now you know...

SHAKEOLOGY is MY SECRET!!! 

If you would like to try Shakeology for yourself, Beachbody always has a 30 day money back guarantee. You can even mail back the EMPTY bag within those days and receive a full refund if it doesn't meet your satisfaction.

Here's where you can buy some and have the commission help bring Toby home from China:

Buy Shakeology for Toby

Now my secret can become YOURS!

It's your CHOICE.

I've heard it so many times, I really couldn't even count.

"It's too expensive to eat healthy..."

I am here to tell you that I bought all our groceries today for 7 people for a week for $86.

$86.


7 people.


FOR REAL.

Now, that said, I still had some remaining staples in my cupboard and freezer that when I planned our meals (bfast, lunch, snacks and dinner!) I didn't have to buy those items because I had them already.

But really, planning meals and now the actual snacks that we'll eat in the afternoon is NOT that difficult.

(With my iPhone and the app "Mealboard" I can plan all our food with a few clicks and it generates an organized grocery list that I tick off as I shop through the store. It has an added feature where I can import recipes from online sites and I can also manually enter our family's favorites. SO EASY!!)

I get weary of people using the expense of fresh fruit and vegetables as an excuse to not eat healthy. I buy what is on sale, in season and use frozen versions when they aren't available fresh. I learn to eat new things and serve them to my family (MORE THAN ONCE to see if they really don't like it!)

The exposing question is: what ELSE are you buying at the store?

And...are you swinging through any establishment that serves you food quickly at any point during your week?

Are you spending your grocery money on soda? On frozen dinners? Prepackaged convenience foods? Are you feeding your children junk food...just because it's "cheap?"

Let me back up and say that I used to eat junk.

I used to have a serious addiction to sugar, fat and salt. Any combination thereof made my mouth water. I would gobble it up and secretly wish I had the nerve to order a second!

How did the change happen?

It was INTENTIONAL.


I meant to.

You don't leave a life of addiction (no matter what your vice!) without a serious desire, conviction, intent and support.

And like I tell all my Beachbody clients, you don't just wake up one day and suddenly eat fresh fruits, whole grains and turn down all items fried and made with sugar. Your caffeine habit doesn't just walk off with another lover and a desire to workout doesn't come in a package you order online.

It's a choice.

I have made this choice first of all for myself. As I leaned into a healthy lifestyle, I saw positive changes in the body I had given up on. This fueled me to try more...which continued to encourage me. My husband began to want similar things to eat, he (after years of watching me workout daily) began to desire to work through P90X and later Insanity, and our children have been watching and listening and actually ask for a snack of raw carrots.

All because of a choice.

None of it happened overnight. None of it. My resolve waived and faltered. But I had a group of people I was hanging with online who encouraged me. They challenged me. They spoke to me when I was ready to throw in the towel. And now, here I am 5 years later feeling better than I ever have. And I'm 5 years OLDER too! ;)

I want you to know that if you are TIRED of being TIRED, if you are stressed by the COST of good foods, if you are tired of buying new clothes that are ELASTIC in nature and you dread your child asking you to come play outside with him... I want you to know: you don't have to live like this.

You can change.

You can.

But YOU must be the one who steps out of what is comfortable, normal and easy.

Choose to step away from living addicted to bad food. Choose to get healthy. Choose to feel good. You'll be SO GLAD you did!!